


More Than A Thousand Words

by nanuk_dain



Series: MCU Slash Fanart: Avengers, Deadpool [17]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Elevator Almost Sex, Fluff, Insecure Tony, M/M, Sexy Times, Steve Feels, Tattoos, Tony Feels, Tony has a secret tattoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-24 14:17:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10743396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanuk_dain/pseuds/nanuk_dain
Summary: Tony got a tattoo when he was eighteen and drunk. Steve wants one when he's quite a lot older than that and entirely sober. There's just that teeny tiny problem of his healing factor erasing any ink.





	1. Tony

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dophne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dophne/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Claim](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10635327) by [nanuk_dain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanuk_dain/pseuds/nanuk_dain). 



> This is my very first fic for this fandom, and I'm still relatively new (what, it's almost three months now?), so please forgive me if anything is wrong! The fic has two chapters which are both done, I'll post the second one soon. Please let me know if you like it? I'm a bit nervous about it... ^_^
> 
> This story goes with the fanart "Claim". Go check it out if you don't know it, it'll make things a lot clearer (literally XD). The idea for this story comes from my dear Dophne. She made a comment to the fanart outlining the main plot points and her idea was just so damn good that it inspired the hell out of me and she kindly gave me permission to use it. 
> 
> I always told myself that I wasn't going to write in this fandom because I know so little about it and there are so many amazing authors already, and yet here I am, posting this fic... I blame Dophne - thanks, hon ^__^

"You know this is stupid, right?"

Tony looks up and finds Rhodey's eyes on him. His attempt at looking chiding would be way more convincing if he didn't have to frown in concentration just to keep from falling on his ass, Tony thinks with a smirk.

"No, it's not. It's a _great_ idea!" Tony throws his arms up because he feels like that strengthens his point. It also negatively impacts on his hazy balance and he has to grab the counter to keep from falling. Rhodey is not the only one who's drunk, here.

Rhodey sighs heavily and manages to sound like a long-suffering old man. "You're lucky you're never going to meet the guy."

"Why's that, honey-bear?" Tony really tries to follow Rhodey's train of thought, but he can't quite manage. How many beers did they have at that party again?

"Because you'd have a hard time selling this as anything other than what it is." Rhodey sounds like the conclusion is obvious.

"And that's what, exactly?" Tony doesn't have the faintest idea what the conclusion is. There might have been scotch, too, he thinks vaguely, still trying to remember what they'd consumed before they came here.

"A visual manifestation of your huge crush on the guy." Rhodey points out, his voice still reasonably sober and Tony is in awe that he can still string together sentences like that. Rhodey sure knows how to hold his liquor, because Tony knows for a fact that he matched Tony for every drink. He thinks so, at least. Maybe he doesn't know for a fact, but he's quite sure. Whatever.

"Hey, it's _Captain America_! Who doesn't have a crush on him?" Now that's something Tony can't let sit. There's nobody on earth who doesn't love that guy. Okay, maybe there are a few people, but they don't matter, Tony decides.

"Me." 

Tony just snorts. "That's not true. I know you own a mug with his shield printed on the side."

Rhodey just glares, but the effect is ruined by him swaying slightly. "It was a gift."

Tony just snorts again. "Sure."

The sound of somebody pointedly clearing their throat interrupts their discussion. "Make up your mind, man. I'm not paid by the hour." 

Tony turns to face the middle-aged guy with the Santa Clause belly who's leaning heavily on the counter. He's covered in tattoos - Tony would bet it's literally from head to toe - and right now he's looking at him with a raised eyebrow that's clearly demanding a decision. Tony doesn't need to think about it - admittedly, he probably wouldn't manage to properly think about anything right now even if he tried - and just slaps the right amount of Dollar bills on the counter.

"I'll do it." Tony grins at Rhodey, curious if his friend is really going to try to stop him. 

Apparently not, because Rhodey just shakes his head with a resigned sigh. "If you regret it tomorrow, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'."

"Granted." Tony agrees, still grinning. He feels very magnanimous.

"How old are you?" Santa asks him with little real interest in the answer.

"Eighteen." Tony doesn't even have to lie about his age, and that's something he's still getting used to. 

"Good enough for me." Santa turns around without even asking for any proof and waves for Tony to follow him behind the counter to a worn leather chair. Tony digs around in the back pocket of his jeans and pulls out a piece of paper that's obviously been ripped out of some magazine. 

"That's what I want." Tony says firmly when Santa takes the picture and looks at it with the studied gaze of somebody who's used to inking random images under people's skin.

"Where do you want it?" Santa asks while getting his gear set up with a sort of bored routine.

"Right here." Tony says and doesn't hesitate to pull down his pants to bare his left hip bone. It's jutting out because Tony's a bit on the skinny side - he's still hoping he might grow out of that at some point - and Tony put his finger where he wants his new body art. Santa just nods and motions for Tony to sit down. 

"Pull your pants lower." He says just as disinterested as he's been the entire time of their interaction and then begins to draw with a marker on Tony's skin. His movements are quick and sure, and after a few minutes he looks up. "That okay?"

Tony glances down and grins. "Perfect."

Rhodey just shakes his head. "You're crazy, man."

"Of course I am, I'm a genius." Tony replies, cocksure and mocking at the same time.

Rhodey throws him a chiding gaze. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Hold still now." Santa orders before he begins with his work. Tony flinches when the needle pierces his skin in quick succession, but the longer it goes on, the less he feels the single stings. Instead his entire hip burns, a pain somehow very intense and yet still bearable. Tony doesn't look away once.

When he leaves the parlour an hour later with a muttering Rhodey in tow, Tony feels the soft friction of the waistband of his jeans on the still sore flesh of his new tattoo. 

 

***

The next morning - or maybe it's afternoon - Rhodey says 'I told you so' with a big, smug grin on his face.

 

***

 

Years later, Tony still has his tattoo. He contemplates getting it removed a few times, but in the end he never does. He knows he does dumb things when he's drunk, and he figures he deserves to keep the vivid, permanent and very much visible reminder of that under his skin. 

The fact that he was just eighteen when he did it is no excuse. Genius, remember? Means he should have known better. It's not like Rhodey didn't warn him.

But hey, he will never meet Captain America anyway, so the most embarrassing thing that can happen is some girl seeing it when things get hot and heavy, and it's not like Tony is embarrassed _that_ easily.

 

***

 

Yeah, he should have known better. Never say never, right?

Okay, just because he _does_ meet Captain America, still doesn't mean he'll ever get to see Tony's youthful transgression. It's not likely that the good Captain will ever look underneath the waistband of Tony's boxer shorts, after all.

 

***

It's not likely, until it suddenly is.

 

*tbc


	2. Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here we go, the second chapter. It's much longer and there's more 'action' *cough* than in the first. I hope you like where I take our boys! I'd greatly appreciate a wee word on what you think about it ^_^

Tony Stark is a mystery to Steve. The man has more layers than an onion, tightly wrapped around him like a cloak, and he never sheds them all. At first Steve is blinded by the sarcasm and the arrogance, it's all he sees - just like he's supposed to. It takes him a while to realise that it's a show, a clever façade that's just as much an armour as the visible one made of metal. It's the moment Tony decides to fly a nuke into the interdimensional portal during the Battle of New York that Steve suddenly sees the layers peel back, and he realises his mistake. 

It's almost too late. Steve will never be able to express in words how grateful he is that he is given a second chance. Once he knows how to look behind that mask, he's embarrassed that it took him so long to realise it's not all there is to Tony Stark. 

With the passing of time, Steve discovers Tony's wicked sense of humour and his almost childlike curiosity and enthusiasm. One of the most fascinating things Steve has ever seen is Tony working on a new project, so completely immersed in his work that he forgets the world around him, his face alight with passion or calm with patience and concentration. It's a sight to behold, and Steve counts himself very lucky to be one of the few people who get to witness it. It's Tony in his element, probably the most open and unguarded he ever allows himself to be, and Steve is drawn to him in those moments like a moth to the flame. He makes himself as invisible on the workshop's couch as he probably can, his pencils on the cushion within easy reach, his sketchbook open on his knees, his eyes on Tony.

When the Avengers - one by one - move into the Tower, Steve discovers that while he may not show it openly, Tony is actually very considerate, observing and kind. He tries to make them feel welcome and at home without ever making it obvious. It's the little things that matter, and Steve sees them all now that he knows to look for them. He also knows that thanking Tony for it will be brushed aside as if it was nothing, followed by a quick change of topic. For a man who makes his image one of arrogance, narcissism and showy generosity, Tony is surprisingly uneasy with genuine gratitude or sincere compliments. It takes Steve even longer to understand that the reason for that is that Tony honestly doesn't think he deserves it, and that realisation makes something in Steve ache. 

It's in battle that Steve finds confirmed what he suspected ever since the Battle of New York. Tony is deeply loyal to the people who have earned his trust and affection, and the Team is slowly but steadily becoming part of that exclusive group of people. And when Tony is loyal, he will go to any length necessary to defend those he cares about. Steve is humbled to know that for whatever reason, he is on that very short list. 

With each layer of Tony Stark that Steve manages to unravel, he finds himself more attracted to the eccentric genius. It's a development more than a sudden insight, really. There's so much more to Tony than meets the eye, and Steve has always loved a good mystery. 

He never expected to _fall in love_ with one, though.

 

*** 

 

When Tony bodily presses Steve against the panelling of the elevator and kisses him for the first time, Steve feels like he instantly loses all of his higher brain functions. Who knew he had a kink for being manhandled? Of course he knows Tony is only capable to do so because Steve lets him, but that doesn't change the fact that Tony goes for it and Steve loves it.

Kissing is only the beginning. Tony definitely knows what he's doing, and Steve is more than happy to find out what that entails. He doesn't even realise it when they both somehow lose their shirts and then Steve is slipping his hands underneath Tony's jeans and underwear in one go and takes hold of Tony's butt. Which fits in his hands perfectly, he notices absent-mindedly while pulling Tony closer. He loves the feeling of Tony's astonishingly strong body against his, how they slot together so perfectly. He loves feeling the hard evidence of Tony's arousal against his thigh that he has shoved between Tony's legs. The fact alone that Tony obviously wants him just as much makes Steve weak in the knees. He has never been more grateful for the support of a wall in his back. 

The noises Tony makes when Steve touches him are addictive, Steve just can't get enough of them. He wants to know if he can make Tony lose it completely, if he can make him scream with pleasure, and he has a good idea how to do that. So Steve turns them around with a quick move until Tony rests with his back against the wall. He's flushed and his lips are red and swollen and he looks so deliciously debauched that Steve stares at him for a few seconds to commit every detail into memory. He knows he will draw Tony's face sometime later, and he wants it to look like it does at this precise moment. 

When Steve sinks to his knees, Tony's eyes widen in surprise and he licks his lips instinctively. Steve smirk, his hands on Tony's belt, about to open it when a sharp siren cuts through the silence and makes both of them flinch.

It's only then that Steve realises that they're still in the elevator and that they probably would have ended up in a highly compromising situation if the alarm for the Avengers to assemble hadn't gone off. He feels his cheeks burn during the entire ride in the Quinjet, but he can't make himself regret what happened in the elevator.

Instead he finds himself cursing the damn alarm.

 

*** 

 

It's only after the mission when Tony is in the shower, washing off the grime, that his gaze flickers downwards and lands on the small shield inked on his hip. Out of the blue it hits him that Steve doesn't know about it and almost got to see it in the elevator. That was a very close miss, Tony realises that if the alarm had been triggered just a few seconds later, Steve would have uncovered the incriminating body art.

Tony's heart speeds up and he feels his cheeks grow hot in embarrassment. He could get the tattoo removed, it wouldn't take that long. He'd thought about it before, after all. But no, no, that feels wrong. He doesn't want it removed. It's his, it has been with him for decades and he likes it. Doesn't matter that he was young and drunk when he got it.

But not getting it removed means that Steve will see it at some point. Probably sooner rather than later.

Oh my. Tony can't help wondering how he'll react to it. It's not every day that you find out your new lover has your signature accessory tattooed on his hip. If it was on the arm or the shoulder or even the wrist, okay, but the hip? That's an entirely different level of intimate. How the heck do you explain something like that? 'I was young and drunk'? Sounds like a really cheap excuse.

Tony is sure he hears Rhodey in his mind pointing out that there's no way to sell this tattoo as anything other than what it is - a visual manifestation of his crush on Captain America. Rhodey sounds smug. Definitely smug.

Tony sighs and rests his head against the tiles, the warm water running down his back. He should probably tell Steve about it before he discovers it on his own. Way less incriminating and embarrassing. It'd be on his terms, then, and he wouldn't be half naked and probably aroused half out of his mind when it comes out. But Tony really doesn't know how to start _that_ conversation without it being utterly awkward.

Tony stands under the spray for a long time and stares down at his hip. He doesn't know what to do, and that doesn't happen to him very often.

He doesn't like the feeling at all.

 

***

 

It's about two weeks after the Elevator Incident, as Steve has begun to call it in his mind, that Tony ends up manhandling him again. They've been on an actual date, with Tony taking him to the Frick Collection in the afternoon followed by a stroll through Central Park and then they'd dined in a small but exquisite Italian restaurant. It was all very informal and low-key, and Steve likes how Tony managed to make him feel like a normal person and not a celebrity with no privacy. He's still wondering if Tony did something to keep the press from finding them, and he has not quite dismissed that possibility yet. 

It starts in the elevator again - seems to be a thing - with Tony pushing Steve against the wall and kissing him thoroughly, but this time they actually manage to get to Steve's room before they begin to lose their clothes. Steve would be proud of them if he could find it in him to actually care, but he's too busy ridding Tony of his shirt. Steve just so remembers to kick the door shut behind him because he's not too fond of the idea of somebody walking in on them. No interruptions this time, please.

Tony unceremoniously strips Steve off his jacket and shirt, never letting go of Steve's lips for more than a few seconds. Steve is caught up in the heat of his passion, in the mesmerizing feeling of Tony's entire focus directed at him. There are goosebumps spreading all over Steve's skin, his cheeks feel hot and he's sure he's blushing, but it only seems to turn Tony on even more. 

When Tony shoves Steve backwards he goes willingly, landing on the soft duvet on his bed. He sits up when Tony approaches him and steps between Steve's spread legs. Steve lets his hands come to rest on Tony's hips, gently pulling the black tank top out of Tony's jeans so that he can slide his fingers underneath it. He pushes it up, slowly, his gaze never leaving Tony's, then he leans in until his lips connect with the warm skin he just exposed. He feels Tony's stomach quiver under his lips due to the shaky breath he's taking, and it makes Steve smile to know he can do that to Tony, that a touch as simple as this makes Tony shiver. 

Steve pushes the tank top as high as he can given his position and Tony catches on quickly, grabbing the hem and pulling it over his head to throw it somewhere to the side rather carelessly. Once he's done his hands bury in Steve's hair, carding through it and sending shivers down Steve's back. 

Steve meanwhile lets his fingers slide lower, dipping into the waistband of Tony's jeans, slowly tracing along the fabric from Tony's sides to the front where the button is situated. Steve doesn't hesitate to pop it open, he knows Tony wants it considering how he's looking at Steve with hooded eyes, his mouth agape and his breathing is coming in quick pants. Steve licks his way down Tony's happy trail while he's working on undoing the zipper and then he's pushing down the jeans and boxers alike. He can't wait to get a taste of Tony, Steve thinks with a smile full of anticipation. But first he wants to see him, to actually look at Tony in all his naked glory. Steve opens his eyes and...

... freezes.

Tony must have felt it, because his fingers in Steve's hair still and his voice sounds confused and worried when he asks, "Steve what's wro-" 

Then he freezes, too. "Oh shit."

Steve can't do anything, he's still rooted in place, staring at the exposed hip bone right in front of him. He'd been just about to kiss his way further down when he'd opened his eyes, and now he can't move. Tony starts to wriggle but Steve never eases his grip on Tony's hips, keeps him in place so that he can keep staring.

At his shield. Tattooed under Tony's skin. Over his hip bone.

It's a little fuzzy around the edges which tells Steve that it's not recent. Only age makes the ink spread out like that, which means that Tony must have got it long before he met Steve. Somehow that makes it even more special.

"Steve, listen, this... It's not what you think. Okay, maybe it is, but what I mean is that...Well, I was eighteen and drunk, you know - no you probably don't know, but still, my point is that it was a long time ago and... Shit, this is awkward. I really should have thought about it, I wanted to tell you, but I totally forgot when we started kissing and now here we are. It doesn't mean..." Tony is rambling, his mouth working at top speed while his efforts to step back intensify, but Steve never even considers letting him go. Instead he leans in and places his lips on the soft skin that covers the lines that make up his shield, the touch gentle and almost reverent.

Tony's wriggling ceases immediately. Steve can hear the hitch in his breath as much as he can feel it where he's pressed against Tony's body. Steve opens his mouth to flick his tongue over the soft skin, he can feel the slightly elevated lines of the ink under the tip of his tongue, he imagines he can taste it too, and something that feels suspiciously like a mixture of love and possessiveness courses through his veins. He never wants to let go of Tony again, but even if he ever has to, he will always know that Tony chose to bear Steve's mark under his skin. The thought makes goosebumps spread all over Steve's body.

"Steve..." Tony sounds wrecked and so utterly uncertain at the same time that it makes something inside Steve tighten almost painfully.

"I love it." He mumbles against the warm, wet skin under his lips. Tony's entire body trembles with the shuddering breath he takes. Steve lets his hands wander higher until they're on Tony's back and he tightens his hold, enfolding Tony in a firm embrace. He feels the exact moment when the tension leaves Tony's body. 

Steve opens his eyes, glances at the shield that graces Tony's skin, and one irrational thought fills his mind.

He wants _Tony's_ mark on his own skin.

 

***

 

The idea festers. He can't get rid of it. 

Every single time he sees his shield on Tony's skin he can't keep his fingers to himself. One night when Tony is sleeping, the covers shoved half off and only wearing his favourite Captain America boxer shorts, his limbs spread out like a starfish, Steve props himself up on his elbow and lets his finger slowly pass over the lines on Tony's hip. He follows the outer red circle, then the white one that follows and the inner red one only to rest his fingertip on the star in the centre. It almost appears blue in the faint rays coming from the arc reactor, the only source of light in the room. 

Steve's fingertip follows the rays of light to their source, a slow trail over the familiar expanse of soft skin he knows by heart and yet loves to rediscover each time anew. His finger circles the metal casing once, right next to it, still touching the skin. On the next round it passes over the metal that he knows is never cold, warmed by Tony's body heat as well as the energy of the reactor.

Steve loves the arc reactor. He knows that Tony sees it as something ugly, something tinged with the negative memories it holds for him, but to Steve it's beautiful. He loves the soft blue hues of its light and how they play over Tony's skin. He loves the simple but elegant design of its lines, slim yet strong, technical yet graceful, so much like Tony. He loves the fact that it defends Tony's life with every second it hums in his chest, that it never tires to keep Tony safe. 

Steve stares at Tony's sleeping form for another minute or two, then he gets up, careful not to jostle him awake, and tiptoes over to his desk. He takes the sketchbook and the metal pencil box that always sit in the top right corner on the desk before he returns to the bed without making a sound. He sits down and folds his legs under him so that he can rest the sketchbook on his knee and begins to ban the sight in front of him on the slightly rough paper. 

He listens to the soft humming of the arc reactor that he knows nobody else can hear and lets it wash over him while the drawing begins to take shape. When he's done with the outline, he reaches for his coloured pencils and slowly fills in the exact shade of blue hues that tinge everything in soft light. When he's satisfied with the colouring, Steve stares at the abstract rendering of Tony's arc reactor for a long time.

He knows he can't, but he wants it under his skin. The problem is that any tattoo he gets will be erased by his healing factor in a matter of hours. That knowledge doesn't change the fact that he wants it, though. He glances at his shield that's just so visible over the waistband of Tony's boxers, and suddelny he knows what he'll do.

Steve looks at the drawing once more, a smirk on his lips, then he gets up and silently walks over to his desk again. He grabs a pen and a block of post-its and jots down a quick note.

_Do you think you can develop an ink that will withstand my healing factor?_

He sticks the note on the drawing, sneaks out of his room and down to Tony's workshop. There he tapes it to the coffee maker before he returns to bed and curls around Tony's still sleeping form. The only thing he can do now is wait.

 

***

 

He doesn't have to wait for long. It's only a few hours later that Tony barges into the bathroom where Steve is just done with his shower after his morning session in the gym. Steve is drying off his left leg when the door is thrown open unceremoniously, accompanied by Tony's voice running a mile a minute. He's holding the drawing as if it's either some kind of evidence or a snake about to bite him. He can't seem to make up his mind.

"You're kidding, right? I mean, of course I can do that, I'm a genius. I created a new element, of course I can create some highly resistant ink! It would take a bit of an effort because Erskine did a damn good job with your healing factor, so I might have to get some help from Helen Cho, but I think it's doable. But does that really mean what I think it does? You can't mean that. Are you serious? You know it would be permanent because if we circumvent your healing factor, there'll be no way of reversing..."

Steve puts the towel down on the wash basin and steps up to Tony to silence him with a thorough kiss. That's a tactic that always works phenomenally well, and he's quite sorry that he can't use it in the field because that would be highly unprofessional.

Tony responds to the touch instantly, just like he always does. It's still a thrill for Steve that Tony does that, that Steve kissing him is enough to immediately shift his intense focus from whatever he was talking about to Steve, only Steve. Tony melts against him, his hands coming to rest on Steve's sides, never mind that they were wildly gesticulating just a few seconds ago. Steve feels the paper of the drawing against his back where Tony's still holding it. 

Steve only pulls back when he's sure that Tony has calmed down enough that he won't start up again as soon as Steve releases him. He makes a point to hold Tony's gaze and steps back just enough so that Tony can see his entire body.

"I want your mark." Steve rests his fingertips over his left hip bone. "Right here."

Tony just stares, his throat muscle working but no sound coming out. Of course he knows that Steve is pointing at the exact same spot as his tattoo. For several long seconds Tony just stares at Steve's fingers where they're resting against his hip, he doesn't move, doesn't say a word. When he finally looks up, Steve can see so many emotions battling inside him that he almost feels as overwhelmed as Tony obviously does right now. 

"Why?" Tony swallows hard. For once he's entirely still. "Why would you want..."

"Because I belong to you." Steve says without having to think about it when Tony's voice runs out without finishing the sentence. Steve's voice is gentle but firm when he continues, there's no doubt in his mind. "And I always will."

Tony holds his gaze, his chest rising and falling in rapid breaths, his lips pressed into a thin line and a frown on his face. Steve can see the emotions battling behind his eyes, and although he feels so incredibly nervous that he thinks he might throw up, Steve forces himself to remain where he is and give Tony the time he needs. He is well aware that this is about more than just a random tattoo, and he knows that Tony knows it, too. 

This is the moment where Tony decides whether he'll dare to give them a chance, not as friends or fuck buddies, but as a couple. Steve understands that for Tony it's the same as stepping over a cliff without his suit, without a parachute, without any safety net, _trusting_ that Steve will hold him, won't let go of him, won't hurt him. Considering that Tony has been burnt by pretty much every person he ever dared to trust, Steve is very well aware that this can go either way. His heart is beating a mile a minute and he feels like he can't breathe while he's waiting for Tony to say something, _anything_. Steve is reminded of the asthma attacks he experienced frequently before the serum. He doesn't dare to move or to look away from Tony, afraid that he might lose him.

"I can do it." Tony says after a few minutes that feel like hours, his voice quiet as if he is afraid that any loud sound might break them both. Steve notices that he's holding the drawing close to him now, running his thumb over the rough paper almost as if he's caressing it. He doesn't treat it like it's an angry snake anymore. 

Steve dares to take a step closer, careful and measured, always giving Tony an out if he wants it. But Tony doesn't flinch, doesn't leave, instead he meets Steve halfway and pulls him in a tight embrace that Steve didn't even know he needed so much until he feels Tony's arms around him. 

"Are you serious?" Tony's voice is small in his ear, as if he's waiting for it to turn out to be a cruel joke. 

"Yes, I am." Steve turns his head so he can press a lingering kiss to Tony's temple. "I'm yours, Tony."

Tony shivers in his arms, a gentle motion that Steve feels as if it was an earthquake. A second later he feels the tension leave Tony's body and he relaxes against Steve as if he actually begins to believe that this is real. "I'll make that ink." 

"Thank you." Steve breathes against his skin, voice hoarse with relief. He allows himself to melt against Tony's smaller but strong frame and buries his nose in the joint of neck and shoulder. He inhales deeply, a mixture of scents that are so much part of Tony, and he relaxes in the strong arms wrapped around him.

He feels like he belongs.

 

***

 

A month later Steve lies on a worn leather chair in a small tattoo parlour in Brooklyn. A needle is piercing the skin on his left hip, the tip filled with the special ink Tony and Helen Cho came up with. 

Tony is sitting on a chair beside him, watching him. Steve won't ever forget his amazed, radiant smile.

 

*** 

 

Years later, the lines of the arc reactor inked under Steve's skin have gone fuzzy just like those of the shield on Tony's hip, but they've never shown any sign of fading.

 

*** The End


End file.
